Baking Directions

In a large mixing bowl, add the ground pork, eggs, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. No need to mix at this time, just place into the refrigerator until later.

In a medium-size saucepan over medium heat, add the bacon fat and allow to melt. Once melted add the onions, cover and allow to cook until translucent. Then add the garlic and continue to cook for two more minutes.

Next add the chopped herbs and cook for another minute. Once herbs have been added, be sure to stir frequently so that they don’t burn. Now remove the mixture and allow to cool thoroughly in the refrigerator. Once the onion-herb mixture is cool, combine completely with the pork and place back in the refrigerator while you line the molds with bacon.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

How to Line the Loaf Pan with Bacon: At one end of the loaf pan, place the narrow part of the bacon on the bottom edge of the pan where the side and bottom part of the pan meet. Run the bacon across the width of the pan and up the edge, overlapping on the other side. Then take your next slice of bacon and reverse, having the narrow edge of this piece meet the bottom edge of the other side (the side that your first piece made its way up the edge), and again have it come across the bottom of the pan and up the other side, almost like ribbons coming out of a box. Continue this process until you reach the end of the pan. This will provide the wrapping for the meatloaf.

Once the molds are lined with bacon, place your meatloaf mixture into the mold. You should fill the mold ¾ to the top. Now take your overlapping bacon and use it to cover the top of the meatloaf. Place the meatloaf into a water bath and then into a preheated 350-degree oven and cook for 1½ hours or until it reaches 150 degrees.

Remove the meatloaf from the water bath and place into a refrigerator until fully cooled. It is best that it sits over night before slicing.

Bacon Friday

It’s Friday! And Friday is BACON DAY! This Friday I bring you the Bacon Donut Cheeseburger from the Crave Shack in NYC. Not for the squeamish, this dish is called the Crave Doughnut Burger and includes a 1/4 lb beef patty, with cheese and “crave sauce” served on a toasted glazed donut. It’ll run a very reasonable $6.50. The only cop-out is that it is Turkey Bacon. So then I suppose that classifies it as a health food, right?

You can add a Happytizeror two such as Onion Rings, Nuggets, Jalepeño Poppers or Nachos. What about fries you say? Well donchya know they have a number of options including Frenchie Fries – “Cuter than your average fries” (with or without cheese) or Seasoned Fries which are reported to be “Loads of fun.” The dessert and shake and float menu looks pretty enticing as well.

I’ve never been to the Crave Shack, but I’ll see if I can swing by next time in in NYC and feeling like I could use a little cardiac lubrication.

Crave Shack – the home of New York’s First Donut Burger – can be found at: